Green House Week 3: The Bedroom

 

Disclaimer: This post talks about sex toys! Oh LA!

The bedroom, where all the magic happens (or, in the case of the moms to young kids out there, where all the night-nursing, not-sleeping, and futile attempts at day-napping happens!)

Here we go.

What To Phase Out: One of the biggest source of clutter in the bedroom is clothing Our wardrobes are huge and have a ton of variety, but some estimate that we wear 20% of our clothing 80% of the time – leaving the other 80% just sitting there taking up space. Phase out clothing that doesn’t fit, doesn’t look good, or that you simply don’t wear, even if you think you should. Keep a box or at the bottom of your closet and when you try something on and don’t like it, toss it in to be donated. No reason to hang it up again only to hate it again another day!

Try to phase our fast fashion, too. We all know those $5 tee-shirts look like shit after one wash, ditto to the $20 sandals after a few wears. Stop buying them! Try to purchase the best quality clothing you can afford, go for quality over quantity. The benefits here are twofold, the amount of items in your closet will dwindle, but they will be fantastic quality and you’ll look good for ages.

 

What to Bring In: If you can find a good quality secondhand clothing store or consignment shop, it just might change your life. Clothing will be less expensive, and you’ll be looking at it after it has been worn for a few weeks or months, so you’ll have a fairly good idea about how the item will last in your closet. This means you will be investing in pieces that will look better, longer – and typically at less than half the price!

Also, when it’s time to replace your sheets, consider organic cotton or bamboo. I’ve found that these wear so much better then cheaper counterparts, and they have a far smaller footprint. Plus, I mean, organic cotton sheets? Hello.

Recipes: It’s gotten warm enough recently that I have started hanging my laundry to dry on a clothesline again – god did I miss that! Nothing smells better than line-dried sheets! But if you don’t have a clothesline or you just want a bit of a soothing scent before you hit the hay, this linen spray is sublime. You can sub out any natural essential oil you choose, but I love lavender because of it’s relaxing aromatherapy effects. (P.S. If you think you hate the smell of lavender, make sure you’ve smelled a really good quality essential oil. I always associated lavender with a perfume-y old-lady smell until I came into contact with it in essential oil form at my old Farmer’s Market – it’s rich, and almost spicy. Love it!)

Ingredients:

Water
10-15 drops essential oil

Mix in a spray bottle and lightly spritz over clean sheets, either before folding or after putting them on the bed. The essential oil provides a really light, fresh, relaxing scent that you will come to associate with sleep, making it easier to fall asleep when you turn in for the night.

 

Extra Credit: Soooo, I’m guessing nobody particularly wants to be getting down and dirty with a sex toy made of toxic plastic chemical compounds – but many of us are. Consider swapping your sex toys for durable and eco-friendly alternatives like those made of glass.

Wondering what to do with the ones you’re getting rid of? Sex toy recycling DOES exist! I’ve sourced a few companies that provide this service for Canada, the US (temporarily not accepting donations, so check back soon), and the UK (if you find a recycling program in your country not listed, please add the info in the comments!)

Most programs accept mail-in items for recycling and offer a coupon to purchase a new eco-friendly toy! Oh MY, indeed!

Next week: The Kitchen! My favourite! A tiny bit of sarcasm there! 

 

Past posts in the Green House series:

Week 1: Intro
Week 2: The Bathroom
If you like these hippie ramblings and you’d like to read more, my book is available at most public libraries, on Kindle, in your local bookstore and here!